Chapter 26 - Dynamic Quest

Angel Grove, 2006

Randi Scott was a ninja. A Thunder Ninja to be more precise. While her oldest brother was running around playing Power Ranger, and her twin brother was being recruited into Pai Zhua, Randi was getting recruited into the Thunder Academy. She even had a chance at playing Power Ranger herself. Being stuck on an alien planet with the famous Ninjor would do that for a person. Since those days, she's been a scout for the Academies, which were cooperating more than ever since the near invasion by Lothor. So she instigated herself into Jason's Dojo businesses for just that reason. What better way to spot potential ninja students then at a karate dojo?

She'd actually been fairly close to giving Chloe's and Danny's names to the Senseis but she hesitated when she realized that they were probably Power Rangers. Which ones, she wasn't sure until Zirynoc attacked and Chloe morphed. That Tai was revealed to be the male Red Ranger, or even Autumn as the female Green Ranger, was little surprise to her. But, seriously, Billie?

When she realized that the defenseless Rangers were in trouble, and it was serious trouble at that, she made the decision to help out. She didn't really mean to out herself, but Autumn recognized her voice and circumstances were what they were.

When the Rangers teleported the craggy rock-frog monster focused its attention on her. She honestly wasn't sure how long she could hold out against it. It was taking all her skills to stay ahead of his sonic hammer thingy. One blow actually got her pretty good and she was thrown off her feet.

Two people in dated armored suits resembling police cars appeared in front of her. One was green and white, the other was yellow and white. "Not so fast! Surrender yourself and be detained or face the consequences!" Green Senturion said.

Zirynoc just laughed a confident laugh. "I thinketh not," he said and threw a handful of Bone Drone eggs on the ground. The Drones appeared.

"They always want to do it the hard way," Yellow Senturion stated.

She and Green entered into the fight with them.

Randi sprang to her feet, scrambling for her sword to join in as well. As the Bone Drones dwindled, the sky suddenly gave a tremendous crack and giant Riti appeared in the park announcing her claims for world domination.

"They always want to rule the world," Yellow declared with a sigh. "Senturion Synergizer!" A plate in her leg armor opened up and a large pistol shaped energy gun popped out.

"You finish off the drones, we'll go after the monster," Green told the ninja after he summoned his weapon as well. The two of them ran toward the monster trying to once again summon a devastating blast of sonic energy. They fired on him.

Randi didn't argue. They seemed to know what they were about. She adjusted her grip on her sword and gave a thin smile. She began running among the Drones, slashing with the sword and loosing crackling lightning. Whatever was going on with the Power Rangers, she sincerely hoped they'd sort it out soon. A single ninja and a couple of cops in outdated tech weren't going to be able to hold such a powerful monster at bay for too much longer.

-x-

Starkweather Valley, 2012

Taran, Autumn, Manny, and Chloe found themselves appearing at the fringes of a quaint little city surrounded on one side by foothills, and another by cliffs and the sea, the rest was flatlands and forest. The one defining feature of the town was a sharp peak in the distance.

"Hey, I know this place. It's Starkweather Valley. Our football team massacres theirs every year," Manny declared. "Not to mention their rubbish cheerleaders," she added.

Chloe made a square with her fingers and lined up the mountain. "Wish I'd've had time to grab my camera. Pictures from a different time. How awesome would that be?" she asked.

"Wonder exactly what time it is," Taran remarked.

Autumn surveyed the city below. "I suppose we could head into the city and find a newspaper," she suggested.

"But where do we go from there. We weren't exactly given a map," Chloe said and held up her little pink Ranger-shaped Morph Key.

Taran looked at his red Key as well. An urgent buzzing in his wrists made him twist them making his golden cuffs appear. The Morph Key glowed. The other Keys began to glow as well. Chloe twisted her wrists and her black cuffs appeared. Manny twisted her wrists and her yellow cuffs appeared. Autumn twisted her wrists and her green cuffs appeared.

The Morph Keys then bonded to their Morphers. Taran's cuffs turned red his Stegosaurus embossed Power Coin was replaced by one with a set of sharp wings or a bird. Chloe's cuffs turned pink and her Mastodon Coin was replaced with one with the symbol. Autumn's cuffs turned blue and her Stygimoloch Coin was replaced with one with a set of curly wings that resembled waves. Manny's cuffs didn't change color but her Smilodon coin was replaced by one with what looked a bit like a tulip with four leaves on it.

They twisted their wrists again and their cuffs disappeared. "As interestin' as that was, it doesn't really answer my question," Chloe said.

Taran rubbed his wrist. "Yes, it does. Looks like we're headin' toward the mountain," he said and pointed. "Or thereabouts," he added.

The foursome looked toward the mountain in the distance.

"Let's get moving then," Autumn said brightly and began walking toward the city. The others fell into step with her as they headed toward their destination.

-x-

The first clue to their present time wasn't a newspaper, but a bank sign that announced the date, temperature, time and a special interest discount on loans on a flat screen, digital display. "Huh, so we're in the future," Chloe said when the sign announced the date as 06/07/2012.

"Six years in the future," Manny declared. "Amazing," she said. "But this outfit must be so out of date," she said looking down at herself.

Chloe snickered. "I feel your pain, but luckily camo and flannel plaid is never in," she declared, and gestured over her shoulder at the two older Rangers.

"Ain't you just the sweetest thing," Taran drawled.

"I'll have you know that camo and flannel plaid is timeless. We're much more fashionable here than you two in your six-year-old trends," Autumn declared. She wrapped her arm around Taran's. "Which way now?" she asked.

Taran chuckled. "That way," he said, gesturing vaguely south.

"Whatever. We're all tacky," Chloe declared. "Though it'd be cool to take a few notes and get ahead of the trends," she said and wrapped and arm around Manny's in imitation of the couple and pulled her along ahead of the other two.

Manny laughed as she was pulled along. "Though, weirdly enough, the only thing I notice more than a few of is some kind of uniform," she said as she let go of Chloe's arm to shield her eyes and peer around.

"It's like we're babysitting," Autumn said.

"That ain't how it is. We're youse guys' chaperones. Ain't no tellin' what would happen if we weren't here," Chloe said, turning around and walking backwards as she teased them.

"Chloe, watch out," Taran warned but he was too late.

Before the words were even out of his mouth, her foot caught a crack in the sidewalk and she went flailing backwards. Strong arms caught her, but she was already in flight or fight mode. Unfortunately for her rescuer, Chloe rarely gave into the "flight" option. She reacted immediately. Her elbow met soft flesh of his middle, her foot hooked behind his leg, she grabbed his arm, and flipped him. He landed hard on his face, his arm pulled awkwardly and her knee in his back.

Sinclair Monning whistled. "I cannot wait to tell everyone you got put down by Pippi Longstocking," he told his friend, Gregory Houston.

Realizing almost immediately her mistake, Chloe let go of Gore and scrambled away from him. "I'm sorry. And thank you," she said.

Gore got to his feet. He brushed himself off and gave Sin a glare as he unsuccessfully stifled his laughter. "No harm, no foul," he said, shaking out his arm. The girl was small but she had a grip like steel. "And you cannot tell anyone," he told Sin.

"No promises."

Manny, Taran and Autumn joined Chloe. "Are you okay?" Autumn asked. Her eyes slightly unfocused as she looked at the two men. She read them instantly, powerful and elemental but in different ways. She blinked her eyes to focus normally.

"I'm okay. I'll just have to remember to quell my heroic tendencies in the future," Gore said good naturedly.

Taran smiled. "Don't do that. Not every tiny girl with braids has as many martial arts medals and trophies as she does," he said. "If you'll excuse us," he said in that slow, polite farm boy way he had. He and the girls skirted around them.

"Sorry again," Chloe called back, still completely mortified. Not only was just trying to help her, but he was seriously cute, too.

Manny couldn't help but laugh. "You know how to make an impression on a guy," she teased.

Chloe groaned. Autumn took pity on her and gave her a small squeeze. Chloe sighed and then scowled at Taran's back. "How much further?" she demanded moodily. The other three laughed at her, but she sank into a broody silence Nathan would envy.

-x-

Sin and Gore watched the little group. "Wasn't that that one guy?" Sin asked.

"You mean the one who hates being called the White Wizard? Sure looked like him," Gore agreed.

"Yeah, but younger, right?"

"It's weird. And I thought he was supposedly on another planet."

"Right? Maybe we should tell Doc and the others," Sin said. Gore agreed and they teleported back to Sky Base, an invisible island that hovered over Stark Peak.

-x-

Joining Gore and Sin in the main lab of Sky Base was Dr. Lark Walker, Taylor Hicks, Tempest Strong, Enrique Ramon, Mars Ramon and two of their newest allies, Erion Wyndesong and Rena Hart. Erion they'd found deep in a secret area of the base, asleep for over 10,000 years and a member of the alien race that had built the flying island. Rena had recently been possessed by the ghost of a space witch, who was also a member of the alien race that built Sky Base. She still looked like she'd been put through the ringer.

"Taran and three girls. One was a red-head, one was a pretty Latina and the other was small with dark braids," she said quietly, not asking a question, but repeating to herself. Sometimes her head hurt like a mug when she tried to think too hard. "Well, it's a given that the red-head was Autumn," she said. "The other two sound like Manny and Chloe. Which is weird. Manny's working with Rex at S.P.D. and Chloe's back in Africa taking pictures," she said and slowly got her to her feet. She went to a computer console and typed a few things in. One of which was a password that allowed her access to a very secret database.

Pictures began appearing on screens. Taran with slightly longer golden blond hair wearing a white outfit with a long cloak holding a tall white staff and a white circlet around his head was brought up against one of those cheesy studio pictures schools make you take of a shaggy haired farm boy in flannel, jeans, and work boots.

A picture of Autumn with fiery red hair hanging around her waist, a white sheath dress and a cloak and circlet similar to older Taran's appeared beside a snap shot of a laughing Autumn with short red hair and distinctive camo and combat boots.

A picture of Chloe holding a camera against the backdrops of the African Sahara, her brown hair cut short and breezy appeared beside a school yearbook picture of a Chloe with braids and a camera.

The last pictures were a picture of Manny in her S.P.D. uniform splashed with yellow and another yearbook picture of Manny in her cheerleading uniform for Angel Grove High School.

Gore nodded. "That's them all right. And I mean the younger versions. Who are they?" he asked.

Rena manipulated the keyboard again. The newer pictures of the foursome disappeared from the screens to be replaced with pictures of Power Rangers. "Chloe Kennedy was the female Mastodon Ranger," she said and a list of her training information, skills and abilities filled another screen.

"And this several years’ worth of information?" Lark asked.

Rena shook her head. "No, this is the Chloe you guys met. I don't think she began her Pai Zhua training yet if what I'm thinking is right," she said.

"No wonder she took you down without missing a beat," Sin said to Gore.

"You weren't supposed to tell people about that," Gore grumbled.

"We would have found out," Taylor assured him. "Though that is quite an impressive record," he agreed.

"Manny Diaz was the female Smilodon Ranger," Rena continued and a dossier on Manny appeared. "Autumn Baker was the female Stygimoloch Ranger. And finally Taran Goldsmith was the Stegosaurus Ranger," she said.

"Where are you getting all this information?" Lark asked.

"From the Command Center's super computer. Say hello to everyone, Beez," she prompted.

A hologram of a young woman with dark hair, violet eyes and wearing a lavender and white outfit appeared. "Greetings. I am Beta Z," she greeted.

"You gave an outside computer access to our databanks?" Erion demanded sharply.

"On the contrary. I am allowing you access to my databanks. Your databanks have always been part of my network," Beta Z said with a serene and calming manner.

Ram got to his feet and circled around the holographic girl with keen interest. Mars tried to feign just as much interest, but truthfully, she'd met Beez before while working for Nodroz Corp.

"That's not possible," Lark said sharply.

"Unless..." Erion trailed off. Beez gave him a small nod.

"You are correct," she said. "I am the nexus of all Power Rangers on Earth and even beyond. My core is Eltarin even if this incarnation of me was created by three humans," she said with a slight smile. "But we're getting side-tracked," she said.

"It's about the grid going offline, isn't it?" Rena asked.

Beta Z nodded.

"What?" Tempe asked.

"In the past, bridges to the Morphing Grid powered out. If they aren't allowed to finish their mission, it may never be powered back up. I am sorry, but I can tell you no more than that," Beez said.

"But they did succeed. Right? I mean, we're here and we're Morphing," Tempe said.

"Time is fluid. It can always be changed," Beta Z answered. "There are Oozers appearing in the city below," she warned them just before the Alien Alert began to sound. She disappeared and all information she allowed them access to disappeared as well.

"We'd better go deal with this," Taylor said. He put a hand on Rena's shoulder. "Stay here and rest more," he said.

Rena gave a wan smile but didn't argue.

The seven Dynamic Power Rangers went to the teleport pad and disappeared, leaving her and Mars behind.

"Pull a seat, you can help me save them in the nick of time," Mars said with a smile. It was the role she'd taken over from her brother when he began his illustrious Power Ranger career. She returned the smile and sat down, but her strength wasn't computers.

-x-

Taran and the girls stopped off at a supermarket and stocked up on a few supplies for their trip, which they put in a backpack for him to carry. They didn't know how much longer they'd be wandering around the city and Taran was famished. He was downing his sixth power bar in as many minutes when green things began seeping up from the ground.

"Everybody else saw that, right?" Chloe asked.

"You mean the big snots with weapons? Yeah, I see them," Manny assured her.

"We have to get through them without getting caught up too much," Autumn said as they were surrounded, mistaken for easy pickings.

Chloe cracked her knuckles. "Human bowling ball time. Taran?" she prompted.

Taran got down on one knee. "I think you enjoy this too much," he told her.

"If youse got it, flaunt it," She said as she put on foot on his other knee. She bounced with her other foot and as she jumped, he lent his strength behind her. She densed and spread her arms wide. She crashed strongly into at least three Oozers, and started a chain reaction. She tucked herself into a ball and rolled to her feet after she hit the ground.

While Chloe was showing off, Manny was speeding through the creatures, hitting them with the strength of her speed behind her. "You're joining the cheer team next year," she declared.

"Not on your life," Chloe denied flatly. She wasn't incapable, but she had was not cheerleader material.

Autumn tried not to laugh at them. This was serious business. They were meddling in someone else's Ranger problem some years in the future because they'd been cut off from the Morphing Grid. She didn't succeed. She gave a snort of laughter before having to duck and doge an attack from the Oozers. She rolled backwards several times and found a piece of old pvc piping tossed near a dumpster of the convenience store. It was a bit larger than her staff but she gave it an experimental whirl and began whacking at the green things. Unlike her two juniors, she didn't have extra physical abilities, and she was not an alien. She was just Autumn who saw colors around things and people. But just Autumn was an expert martial artist, and she made sure that these things knew that.

Several voices overlapped as various explosions blew through the Oozers. Seven Power Rangers stood before them, one of them in bulky leonine armor. The Red Dynamic Ranger looked over his shoulder at the group. "Go save the future or whatever," he instructed. "We got this," he said.

"We'll owe you one," Taran said, not really surprised that future Rangers may have some idea of their mission here. Hopefully, they'll succeed.

"Remember you said that," Red said and dove back into the fray.

"Come on, ya'll. We gotta get going," Taran told the feminine trio. They began running away from the fight in the direction he was being led.

-x-

With Manny scouting ahead every few miles for any sign that they might be getting closer to their goal, the foursome was still going deeper and deeper into the Stark Game Reserve. "It must be some sort of unspoken rule that mysterious quest items have to be hidden deep in the wilderness," Chloe said with a sigh after they caught up with Manny for the bajillionth time.

"There's unspoken rules for everything," Taran said and passed out water again for them to drink.

"It'd probably save a lot of trouble if someone would speak them," Autumn said and made a face at her own lame joke. Manny and Chloe cracked up for some reason. "It wasn't funny," she told them.

"That's why it's funny," Manny told her. "Which way should I head?" she asked Taran once she'd gotten herself under control.

"Shouldn't be far now, but that way," he said, and gestured vaguely west. Manny nodded and dashed off in a blur. She was back within minutes. "There's something strange up that way," she said. "I don't know if it's the place we're looking for," she added.

"We'd better check it out any way," Taran said. They continued on their march. After nearly an hour or so, in a glade near the mountain and close enough to the sea to smell the salt and hear the crash of waves on the cliffs, there was an abandoned construction site of what looked to be a series of steel building for a compound of some sort.

Taran rubbed his wrist. "I think this is the place, everybody be on guard," he warned. Suddenly he was pushing them into the ground as a series of loud whistles erupted as an inordinately large drill bits crashed into trees and earth around them.

From among the abandoned, half-finished buildings, a larger than the average monster who looked like he was made from a power drill came whirring towards them.

"I think that's our Guardian," Autumn said quietly.

"I wonder what gave it away?" Chloe said.

"If you got time to be smart, you got time to fight," Taran said. "Manny, can you outrun those things?" he asked.

"I'll distract him. You guys morph," Manny answered. She sprang to her feet and dashed off, stopping occasionally to shout at the Guardian. She'd be gone before he even fired.

"We don't have a choice. We gotta chance it," Taran said as he helped Autumn and Chloe to their feet. He twisted his wrists making his cuffs appear. "It's Morphin' Time!"

-x-

It took Mars awhile to trace the small band of time travelers, but once she found them, they were being viewed on a big screen in the Lab. "I don't recognize that area," Gore said.

"Me either," Sin said. "But mapping the Reserve isn't high on my list of priorities," he added.

"What is that?" Tempe suddenly asked when the drill-like Guardian made itself known.

"Not good," Lark said succinctly.

Taylor glanced at Rena. "Any idea how they're supposed to get past that?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "No idea," she said quietly, watching with wide eyes.

"Dude, I think we're about to find out. They got Morphers," Ram said. What came next was something of a shock to them all. Even Erion had to admit he had not expected such a thing.

-x-

Taran crossed his wrists and activated the Morph. "Red Ranger Power!" As he dropped his arms, a red and white power suit formed with gold wings emblazoned on the chest. A red dragon themed helmet formed around his head.

"Pink Ranger Power!" A similar, pink and white skirted suit formed around Chloe, with the same wing design emblazoned across her chest. The helmet that formed was phoenix themed.

"Green Ranger Power!" Autumn's green and white power suit didn't have a skirt, and the wings that appeared on her chest was more like waves. The helmet that formed around her head was crocodile themed.

Manny ducked behind a rather large redwood for cover and activated her Morpher. "Yellow Ranger Power!" The yellow skirted power suit that formed around Manny had different, more plant-like wings on the chest and the helmet that formed was tiger themed.

Red felt surprisingly light with his borrowed powers. He took stock of himself. Then he rushed forward toward the Guardian. It swung toward him, firing drill bits at him. He jumped and practically sailed through the air, then he dropped and rolled between the monster's feet and came up behind him, kicking him in the back.

Pink shook herself. "This is weird. I feel weird. I don't feel solid enough," she said.

"I feel too solid," Yellow said in a same tone of voice.

"Quit complaining and let's help Taran," Green said and the three girls took advantage of his distraction to initiate an attack of their own. The Guardian began to spin and disappeared into the ground.

"Oh, not good," Pink said.

"Cover!" Yellow and Red shouted at the same time as the Guardian spun out of the dirt, shooting wildly as he did so. They took cover again. "Let's give this a try," Red said. He pulled a card from his belt and swiped it in the device on his wrist that was shaped like a face but appeared to also be a card reader. "Sky Sword!"

"Good idea," Pink said, "Sky Shooter!"

"Land Claw!"

"Sea Staff!"

Individual weapons appeared from the cards each of them swiped. "Speed plus Claw. I got this," Yellow said and zoomed forward, she slashed at the Guardian. "Tiger Shock!" Static electricity left by the claw discharged and exploded around the creature.

Green spun the staff on the magnetic bands that appeared around her wrists. when she summoned the weapon. "This is neat," she said and ran forward and jumped. She jabbed the end of the Staff toward the ground and a jolt of green energy boosted her into the sky. "Croc Spear!" She flicked the staff toward the monster. A blade of green energy flew out of the end of the staff. She used the resistance to change trajectory and back flip away, landing in a crouch.

Pink began running. If she wasn't heavy, then she'd work with being light. "Brace yourself," she told Red. He crouched slightly. She jumped and he held out the base of his weapon. When her feet touched it, he used his strength to send her practically flying through the air. "Phoenix Shot!" She pulled the trigger, shooting pink energy bullets as she flew over. She tucked herself into a ball and hit the ground, rolling to a stop before springing to her feet.

Before the Guardian could process which way another attack was coming, Red was moving himself, almost right on the heels of Pink's lift off. He jumped high and crashed down, red energy slash shimmered briefly. "Dragon Blast!" The energy exploded into the Guardian as the Rangers regrouped.

When the dust cleared the whirring of the Guardian's drills sounded shrilly. He fired drill bits at them again and had them diving for cover once more.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Pink asked from her position.

Yellow peaked around and dashed away moments before where she was hiding behind a bush became mangled. "I get the feeling we're not suited for a cannon," she said when she paused again.

"Same here," Green said. "Taran?" she asked.

Red was sorting through some of the cards in his belt. "These," he said and held up two cards where they could see them. "Each of us should have a set," he said.

"On it!" the girls agreed and pulled cards from their belts as well.

Yellow swiped one of her cards. "Micro DynaZords! Tiger Dynazord!" A miniature tiger-head zord appeared. She swiped another card. "Snake DynaZord! Summon Core Earth DynaZords!" Two more cards swiped and more of the miniature Zords appeared. A black snake's head, an orange bear head, black beetle head with antler-like pincers, and yellow rhino with a drill for a horn.

Green began swiping cards as well. "Micro DynaZords! Crocodile DynaZord! Shark DynaZord! Summon Deep Sea DynaZords!" The green crocodile head was joined by a blue shark head, a cyan and white hammerhead shark, a cyan and gold swordfish head, and a black and cyan manta-ray head.

Pink brought out her only card and swiped it. "Micro DynaZord! Phoenix DynaZord!" A pink bird's head miniature zord appeared.

Red swiped his first card. "Micro DynaZords! Dragon DynaZord! Summon Sky High DynaZords!" First he summoned a read dragon's head, then a gold and red crane head, a red and white hawk's head, and a white and red crow's head appeared.

The small Zords zoomed around, crashing or biting into the Guardian before circling it in a dizzying array of multi-colored energy that seemed to trap it in a powerful net of energy. Four of the Zords broke off and zoomed back to them. They pulled their blasters from their hips and put the default heads on them. They pointed toward the energy net.

"Dragon Bullet!"

"Phoenix Bullet!"

"Crocodile Bullet!"

"Tiger Bullet!"

The foursome fired, the mini Zords balls of energy that collided with the energy net the others created. The explosion blew the Rangers off their feet, crashing them against trees, and bushes and buildings. But the Guardian was gone.

Their morphs, weapons, and miniature Zords disappeared as the girls got to their feet. "Where's Taran?" Chloe asked, looking around frantically.

"I'm here," Taran groaned as he jumped out of the branches of a redwood. "Doesn't anyone ever look up?" he asked.

"Where's the staff--oh," Autumn's question was cut off as the staff piece suddenly came into being where the Guardian exploded.

"Welp, we'd better grab it and go," Taran said.

"And hope it takes us home," Manny agreed. The foursome took hold of the staff piece and disappeared in much the same manner as they had appeared.

-x-

From their vantage at Sky Base, the actual Dynamic Rangers had watched in fascination.

"Well, I'll say one thing. I looked good as a chick," Ram declared.

"Why thank you," Mars said. The twins were masculine and feminine versions of each other.

Sin glanced at Rena, "And you got to see that all the time?" he asked.

"Nope, most of the time I had to take monster attack procedures, which usually meant seeking shelter and not watching the action," she answered.

Suddenly the Alien Alert System began to sound. "A Ranger's work is never done," Taylor said. "Let's go," he said, and they piled into the teleport while Rena and Mars stayed behind for back up as they protected their city from invading alien forces.

-x-To Be Continued-x-           

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